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LOS ANGELES (AP) — An appellate court docket on Tuesday reversed a 2022 federal conviction in opposition to former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska, ruling that he shouldn’t have been tried in Los Angeles.
Fortenberry was convicted in March 2022 on expenses that he lied to federal authorities about an unlawful $30,000 contribution to his marketing campaign from a overseas billionaire at a 2016 Los Angeles fundraiser. He resigned his seat days later following stress from congressional leaders and Nebraska’s GOP governor.
NEBRASKA REP. JEFF FORTENBERRY RESIGNS AFTER CONVICTION FOR LYING TO FBI
In its Tuesday ruling, the U.S. Courtroom of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit wrote that the trial venue of Los Angeles was improper as a result of Fortenberry made the false statements throughout interviews with federal brokers at his dwelling in Lincoln, Nebraska, and in his lawyer’s workplace in Washington.
“Fortenberry’s convictions are reversed in order that he could also be retried, if in any respect, in a correct venue,” the choice mentioned.
Patricia Hartman, a spokesperson for the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the District of Columbia, declined to touch upon the ruling’s potential affect for federal prosecutors in Washington.
The conviction of former Consultant Jeff Fortenberry has been overturned. (AP Photograph/Jae C. Hong, File)
“We can’t touch upon issues the place we don’t have expenses filed,” she mentioned in an e-mail Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace in Nebraska didn’t instantly return a cellphone message.
A federal jury in Los Angeles discovered the nine-term Republican responsible of concealing data and two counts of creating false statements to authorities. He vowed to attraction from the courthouse steps.
Fortenberry was charged after denying to the FBI that he was conscious he had obtained illicit funds from Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian billionaire of Lebanese descent.
At trial, prosecutors offered recorded cellphone conversations during which Fortenberry was repeatedly warned that the contributions got here from Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian billionaire of Lebanese descent. The donations have been funneled by way of three strawmen on the 2016 fundraiser in Los Angeles.
The case stemmed from an FBI investigation into $180,000 in unlawful marketing campaign contributions to 4 campaigns from Chagoury, who lived in Paris on the time. Chagoury admitted to the crime in 2019 and agreed to pay a $1.8 million fantastic.
It was the primary trial of a sitting congressman since Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Ohio, was convicted of bribery and different felony expenses in 2002.
Fortenberry and his spouse, Celeste Fortenberry, praised the court docket’s resolution.
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“We’re gratified by the Ninth Circuit’s resolution,” Jeff Fortenberry mentioned in a press release. “Celeste and I wish to thank everybody who has stood by us and supported us with their kindness and friendship.”
Representatives from the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace in Los Angeles didn’t have a right away remark.
Courtroom reverses former Nebraska US Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s conviction for mendacity to federal authorities
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